If I could
by Midnightshadow001
Summary: At the final hour, with doom looming above them all, he waited in the inn. He couldn't help everyone, but Link had a feeling it was his fault this time, and he could not save the world when he knew he could fix his mistake first. Kafei x Anju


Everything was darkened. No warmth existed anymore within the dim hallways of the Inn's second floor.

Nothing was left but a looming aura.

Would he come?

The young boy gazed at the clock, which echoed within the darkness of the room with every tick. This was not a part of the plan; the four giants had finally been freed, the monsters created by the Skull Kid were defeated and the only thing left to do was to confront the Skull Kid himself. Despite this, he still came here to the empty inn within the now vacant, dismal Clock Town. Why?

He forgot to give it to her.

Did he…mess this up?

That was why the young hero was here. It was his heart that would not let him complete his journey until he found out the answer. He should have been at the clock tower right now, ready to save a whole world, and yet he was here, wondering if he could save the two people he had not been able to help before.

The room was so gloomy; the boy could only imagine what kind of light and happy memories once passed through here. He could envision a youthful, red haired woman sitting upon the neat bed, smiling blissfully at receiving her first letter from the handsome friend she secretly admired. He could smell the sweet scent of colorful hydrangeas that the woman received from the friend everyday, which she placed in a vase upon her table. He could imagine the woman blushing as she gleefully whispered her secret to her best girlfriend, and begging her never to tell him.

But that light had left, replaced by the shadows that reflected a doom upon Termina and drowned out the happiness that was once felt within the room. As the ground shook beneath him, books fell from their shelves and lay scattered across the ground. A picture fell out of one of them; as the boy bent down to pick it up he squinted through the darkness and caught a glimpse of the people depicted within it.

It was them.

He had his arm around her shoulders, and she toted a basket full of seashells. They were both at the Great Bay, laughing at the camera as rays from the setting sun hit them from behind. Images of his own past came into his mind as he studied the picture, such as the sunsets over Lake Hylia, or playing in the Castle Town with his masks on.

A rumbling noise was heard again as the moon drew closer, intent on crushing all beneath it. Suddenly, he was imagining this redhead gazing at this picture as she tried on her wedding dress. He watched as she grabbed her umbrella one afternoon to walk out in the rain. He heard the doubt her mother poured within her the night before her wedding as she wondered hopelessly what to do.

The ticking resounded threateningly within the room.

Would he come?

As he placed the picture on the table, steps were heard outside the door, as if someone had rushed up the stairs. Was it the hero's imagination? It could not have been, though, for the door clicked open and a young, blue haired boy wearing a Keaton mask slowly walked into the room, although he took no notice of the blonde boy and instead fixated his gaze upon the wedding dress.

He knew it. It was all his fault.

Sadness clouded the blue orbs of the hero, who watched as the boy tried to catch his breath. He ambled across the room, ultimately stopping in front of the wedding gown.

"Isn't her bridal dress lovely?"

Enclosed within his hand was the Sun's mask. He tightened his grip on it as he spoke softly.

"We promised each other when we were children that we'd marry on the day of the Carnival of Time."

Link felt the sorrow engulfing the room as a tear formed in the corner of his eye. Enclosed within his hand, as he withdrew it from his pocket, was the Pendant of Memories.

"But my promise…" The boy whispered, "I couldn't keep it."

Tears started falling, and Link glanced at the clock desolately.

4:30 A.M.

It was time. Link was stronger now; better prepared than ever before. All he had to do within the next couple of minutes was to go into the clock tower, and fight to prevent the impending doom of Termina.

Then everything would be okay. He would have saved everyone.

He could go home.

But as he heard the soft weeping, the ominous ticking of the clock, and the tremors as the moon moved closer, Link knew it would not be okay.

He gazed at the pendant he held while a freezing wind blew through the windows within the room. The hush left within its wake whispered in his ear a question that he often asked himself; the very question that made him a hero.

"_If you could make things right, would you?"_

The only light left within Termina illuminated the hero's blue eyes; the wave of determination the he felt was so strong that it glowed brightly even within the darkness of the final hour. Throughout his journey within this strange world he realized that becoming a hero did not always mean saving them from a destructive evil; it mean helping out those in despair, even when it hurt the hero to do so. Even if Link had to go through the past three days once more, it was for a heroic cause.

Right now, Anju and Kafei were in despair.

And though he had failed them this time, he knew he could fix it. Link had the power to make things right.

And he was going to.

The clock was almost shrieking now as if every tick were another horrifying reminder of the doom they would encounter within the next few minutes. The pauses within the tremors nearly disappeared as more books crashed upon the floor. Kafei's soft weeping was just about masked by all of the sounds boucing off of the creaking walls. Time was disappearing…Time was almost out…Time was…

A faint melody pierced through the darkness.

The golden mask fell from the hands of the boy as the doom was about to come down upon them. But before the moon could finish its descent, before the mask could hit the ground…

The Song of Time resonated throughout Termina.

He would make things right. Even when the moon will threaten to fall, he knew he would save the two of them.

Light enveloped the world, the brightest of which rested within Link's eyes.

Alongside a smile.

A/N: I know I have not been on in forever, but I suddenly got the urge to write this. I'm sorry if it seems to be a really dark fic. I may go back and revise this at some point, but let me know what you think about it the way it is now. Thank you!


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